Your Windows system tray and Mac OS X menubar have become prime real estate for highly functional micro-applications that provide easy access to information, settings, and tasks. Here are our top ten favorites for both Windows and Mac.

First is Windows, then Mac, and you get ten options for each. (So this is really a Top 20 if you use both operating systems—lucky you!) If you're a Windows user you'll see your options right away, but scroll down a bit if you aren't interested in Windows and just want what's on the Mac.

One thing to note is that a micro-app doesn't necessarily have to be confined to the system tray or menubar, as we're defining it. Our definition of micro-app is one that's lightweight, pretty much serves a single function, and only shows up when you need it. Where it lives isn't entirely relevant—I'm just pretty fond of tiny little icons.

Windows

10. GoogleDocsNotifier

GoogleDocsNotifier has a pretty descriptive name, so it probably comes as no surprise that it notifies you of new and unread Google Docs that show up in your account. If you want to access any of those docs as they come in, you can just click them in the GoogleDocsNotifier panel and they'll open up in your default web browser.

If you're a heavy user of Google Docs but don't like constantly checking the site or…
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9. TrayDiskFree

For those of you out there who have trouble watching your hard drive space and are surprised to find it filled to the brim, TrayDiskFree provides you with a tiny little indicator to let you know how much space you have remaining.

Windows only: Free application TrayDiskFree is a tiny executable that adds an icon to your system…
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8. GMinder

GMinder provides you with system tray-based access to your Google Calendars. If you have upcoming events, it can alert you so you don't miss them. All you have to do is sign in with your Google account and it'll start downloading your calendar info right into your system tray.

7. ClipCube

ClipCube is a system tray utility that records your clipboard history, making it easily accessible when you need it and out of your way when you don't. As an added bonus, if you have a URL in your clipboard history, ClipCube will let you simply click on it to bring it up in your default web browser.

Windows only: Small utility Minime clears your taskbar by minimizing windows to its single icon in…
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5. UltraMon

If you use multiple monitors, UltraMon is a must-have. Along with other great features, one of the most handy UltraMon's extension of the task bar. If you have a window on one monitor and minimize it to the task bar, it only shows up on the portion of the task bar that's on that specific monitor. Along with unified wallpaper and other handy features, UltraMon is very, very useful for multi-monitor setups. The only real downside is that it's pretty expensive ($39), but they do give you a free trial so you can see if it's worth it for you.

4. QuickSync

QuickSync lives in your system tray and is a super quick, super easy to set up folder synchronizing utility. You just drag a folder on the QuickSync drop zone and set up any synchronization rules you want. You can schedule a sync so it happens automatically, and you're provided with several great options for dealing with sync conflicts.

Windows: QuickSync is a minimal synchronization tool that lives in your system tray, allowing you…
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3. Fences

Fences is a little Windows micro-app that organizes your desktop icons into neat little sections that you can label and move around as you please. It's incredibly handy for keeping your desktop neat and organized, and looks pretty great too.

2. Fluffy App

FluffyApp is basically a third-party port of the handy Mac micro-app CloudApp (which you can read more about in the Mac section of this post). FluffyApp sits in your system tray and uploads any file you drag onto it. It'll provide you with a link as soon as it's done so you can easily email that link (or do whatever you want with it).

Windows: FluffyApp is a Windows wrapper for previously reviewed Mac-only CloudApp, and brings the…
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1. AutoHotKey

AutoHotKey is an incredible little utility that lets you write scripts to automate practically anything on your Windows system. You can even create full-fledged applications with it, such as Texter, to handle all kinds of tasks for you. It's actually not strictly an app, but AHK scripts run by default in your system tray. AutoHotKey is pretty amazing, and is something you need to check out right now if you've yet to do so.

It's no secret that we're huge fans of the simple but powerful AutoHotkey scripting…
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Mac OS X

10. Captur

Captur makes it easy to take screenshots by sticking all your options up in the menubar. What's really great about it, however, is the custom options you have. It'll let you see the screenshot immediately after you take it and save the filename however you like.

Mac OS X: If you've ever had trouble remembering all the different screen capture commands or…
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9. Camouflage

Camouflage does one simple little thing: it hides everything on your desktop. Maybe you want to do this to make your screencasts look nice and clean, or maybe you just suck at keeping your desktop tidy. Whatever the case may be, Camouflage will let you pretend there's nothing on the desktop by hiding it for you. You can even have it change your desktop picture in the process.

8. Clipboard History

Clipboard History is a handy little tool that, unsurprisingly, stores your Clipboard History in your OS X menubar. You can set it to remember few to several items copied to your clipboard and easily restore any of them with a click or a keyboard shortcut.

Mac OS X: There are several clipboard history and management tools for Mac OS X, but most of them…
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7. QuietRead

QuietRead quietly sits up in your OS X menubar and stores URLs you just don't have time to visit right now. It makes for an excellent, minimalist storage area for your web backlog, and it can do a whole lot more if you pay for the full version. Like what? Searching, syncing to sites like Instapaper and Read It Later, and additional sharing features are just a few examples.

Mac OS X: Quiet Read is a nifty little menubar app that stores links for you to access later. It…
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6. Apptivate

Apptivate is a neat micro-app that lets you assign keyboard shortcuts to applications so you can launch them easily with your keyboard. You can also assign these shortcuts to other things, such as AppleScripts, which can be seriously useful for quick script-based actions.

Mac OS X: While it's no AutoHotkey, Apptivate is a simple way to assign keyboard shortcuts to…
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5. ScreenSharingMenulet

Mac OS X's built-in screen sharing (read: VNC) functionality is wonderful, but quickly connecting to your shared screens is not always a pleasant task—especially if you're connecting to your home computers from a remote network. ScreenSharingMenulet solves all these problems by putting your local shared screens in your menubar while also letting you add easy-to-select shortcuts for any remote screens you may want to connect to when away from home.

Mac OS X: ScreenSharingMenulet gives you easy access to local, remote, and Back to My Mac VNC…
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4. Snippets

Snippets is as lightweight as you get for a text expansion app. It primarily resides in your menubar, but you can bring up a single window for editing. It's very simple, keeps out of your way, and, at $5, is significantly less expensive than every other text expansion app you can buy on the Mac. While it wasn't the winner in our text expansion face-off, it's pretty great. For simple and inexpensive text expansion, Snippets is the way to go.

3. CalendarBar

It's not terribly inconvenient to access your calendars by going to Google Calendar or iCal, but it's especially convenient to have a rundown of your day in your menubar. Additionally, if you have events in multiple places (specifically Google Calendar, iCal, and Facebook), CalendarBar can summarize them all for you and even alert you via Growl.

2. Autograph

Autograph is a micro-app that'll run you $3, but it's pretty awesome. If you ever need to sign a document or get some handwritten text into your computer, Autograph can solve that problem by letting you use your multitouch trackpad as a writing surface. It basically turns your trackpad into a pen tablet. You can sign with your finger, but you can also purchase a compatible stylus for the full-on pen-on-trackpad experience.

1. CloudApp

CloudApp is incredibly simple: it sits in your menubar and when you drag a file onto it, that file gets uploaded to the cloud. You're instantly provided with a link in your clipboard and can send it to whomever you like. CloudApp even provides the storage for you.

Mac OS X: Drag and drop any file to free menu bar utility CloudApp, and it uploads the file to the…
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Got any awesome micro-apps that you love that weren't on this list? Let's hear 'em in the comments! (Also, Dropbox doesn't count. We left it off on purpose because we talk about it all the time and it isn't always the epitome of lightweight.)

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